:: CorrieK
:: QA5 Having the neighbours round | |
I occasionally (okay, often) wear a push-up bra. I have a small chest and personally like the way it makes me look, but some of my good friends have told me that "enhancing" one's features in such a way is degrading to women. What do you guys think?
"For a long time I thought I wanted to be a nun. Then I realized that what I really wanted to be was a lesbian."
-Mabel Maney
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Post: #667652  , Thu 19 Jul 12, 8:24PM |
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If you like the way it looks, that's all that matters. There's this idea that, to be feminist, you can't like feminine or 'girly' things. But really, it's about doing and wearing what you like and what makes you feel comfortable. I think that it's in no way 'degrading' for someone to wear what they feel good in.
“A good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.”
― Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
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Post: #667656 , Thu 19 Jul 12, 8:34PM |
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It's not degrading if you choose to do it yourself. I hate when people try to control the way I dress. Some feminists tell me that it's degrading to wear slightly revealing clothes (the clothes I wear aren't even that revealing. Just a little cleavage) because all I'm doing is giving the men exactly what they want. Then other feminists tell me that I absolutely SHOULD wear revealing clothes because...something about sexual liberation or...something.
The way I see it, if you let someone control what you wear, how is it any different than men supposedly controlling what we wear. Personally, I see nothing wrong with wearing a push-up bra. I personally never wear them because then I look like boobzilla, but I know lots of people who do and I don't think any more or less of them because of it. Wear whatever makes you feel good...unless you're gonna dress like a mime because those things are scary as fuck.
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Post: #667658 , Thu 19 Jul 12, 8:44PM |
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I think you should be able to wear whatever you want. Personally, I despise push up bras but I have chest dysphoria so that is only logical. But if you like them then you shouldn't feel bad about wearing them.
To see us dance is to hear our hearts speak- Hopi Indian saying
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Edit: blacksummer, Thu 19 Jul 12, 9:35PM
Post: #667666 , Thu 19 Jul 12, 9:35PM |
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It's your body, and what you wear on it or have in it is absolutely, positively your choice alone. When anyone else tries to tell you what you should or shouldn't do with your body, no matter how "good" their intentions may be, that is degrading to you. Trying to tell you as a woman that you can't make your own decisions about what your own chest looks like - whether the source is saying to flaunt it more or less - goes against feminist ideals. It's all about what you want for yourself and how you want to look. Embracing your femininity is just as empowering as embracing masculinity - maybe even more so, and I say this as a masculine-presenting person.
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Post: #667669 , Thu 19 Jul 12, 9:44PM |
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I think if it makes you feel good, it doesn't matter whether what you're wearing is traditionally 'feminine' or 'masculine' or anywhere in between.
I mean, I'm a lesbian and I wear something (corsets) that was traditionally meant to attract men's attention. So what? I like them, so I'll wear them. And it's the same with push-up bras.
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Post: #667674 , Thu 19 Jul 12, 9:59PM |
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I had a friend who once called it "fake advertising" but y'know what? Go push them up! Covering up your body in a way you don't want to and feel uncomfortable about seems just as repressive as forcing someone to flaunt their body sexually
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Post: #667681 , Thu 19 Jul 12, 10:44PM |
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I don't agree with that at all.
Whilst girls shouldn't feel like they have to care about their looks 24/7, it's kind of stupid to say that girls who do care about their looks, or do try to look sexy, or anything like that, are "degrading" themselves. It can really make you feel good about yourself, you know? And, it's up to YOU what you want to wear 
I wear push-up bras quite often, and it's not because of "society" or anything like that, I just like the way it looks XD
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Post: #667803 , Fri 20 Jul 12, 1:25PM |
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I think your friends may be a little over sensitive. Having pierced ears (pierced anything, really), wearing make up, dying your hair, etc. are all ways to enhance you appearance. Even wearing colors that complement your skin tone is enhancing how you look. I can't wear pink well because I have pale skin and it makes me look even more washed out, so I wear a lot of blue. I look at the push-up bra situation as the same think. You like the way you look when you wear one.
Just tell your friends to stop being Judge-a-roos.
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Post: #667808 , Fri 20 Jul 12, 1:47PM |
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:: minya
:: QA7 Taking responsibility | |
Feminists who say that aren't feminists at all. I'm not really a strong feminist myself, but the idea of feminism is that women can do what they want and have the same priveliges as men, and body-wise, they can have the freedom to not stick to what society expects of them. But that doesn't mean that you can't do what you like doing. If you like wearing a push-up bra, that's not degrading to women, that's just what you like to do because it's what you're comfortable doing. Nothing that 'girly' women do is degrading towards women, even if they're getting a boob job or trying to lose weight. You're free to do what you want, and that's what feminism is about. You can do what you want with your body, because it's yours and you alone know what you feel comfortable with.
Sorry that got a little rambly. I just dislike when women try to be 'feminist' and wind up completely insulting women who do tend to stick to the body image society wants us to have. Because it's not the point of feminism. And nothing you can do is really degrading to women, unless you're setting the feminist movement back 100 years by saying we should live in the kitchens, not go out to work and raise the children. ^^
It's always darkest just before the dawn. So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong.
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Post: #667813 , Fri 20 Jul 12, 2:05PM |
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It's only degrading with the wrong intention at mind. If you feel it gives you confidence then it's not degrading.
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Post: #667893 , Fri 20 Jul 12, 6:50PM |
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